Social Entrepreneurship—Building Sustainability Through Business Models and Measurement of Social Impact

Social entrepreneurshipSocial entrepreneurship is gaining unprecedented momentum in the recent years and it is overwhelming to learn how social entrepreneurs are able to create both social and economic value overcoming all odds and sustain and grow their ventures. Social enterprise can be a for-profit or a not-for- profit venture in their constitution. This research study presents a comparative case analysis of four social ventures two of them are not-for-profit organisations and depend mainly on philanthropic partners for funding. The other two are for-profit social venturesNot-for-profit Social venture and create products and services which are commercially viable. Three of the founders are Ashoka fellows and one is a national award winning social entrepreneur, all based in India. Irrespective of the nature of enterprise, developing a viable business modelBusiness model is crucial for the sustainabilitySustainability of the venture. Analysis of these organisations’ business models reveals different patterns. The findings suggest that successful social entrepreneurial organisations proactively create their own ways to partner with multiple stakeholders who share their social visionVision ; deploy resources effectively as an integral part of the business model; and integrate the target group into the social value network

Population-Based Precision Cancer Screening: A Symposium on Evidence, Epidemiology, and Next Steps

Precision medicine, an emerging approach for disease treatment that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle, is under consideration for preventive interventions, including cancer screening. On September 29, 2015, the National Cancer Institute sponsored a symposium entitled “Precision Cancer Screening in the General Population: Evidence, Epidemiology, and Next Steps”. The goal was two-fold: to share current information on the evidence, practices, and challenges surrounding precision screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers, and to allow for in-depth discussion among experts in relevant fields regarding how epidemiology and other population sciences can be used to generate evidence to inform precision screening strategies. Attendees concluded that the strength of evidence for efficacy and effectiveness of precision strategies varies by cancer site, that no one research strategy or methodology would be able or appropriate to address the many knowledge gaps in precision screening, and that issues surrounding implementation must be researched as well. Additional discussion needs to occur to identify the high priority research areas in precision cancer screening for pertinent organs and to gather the necessary evidence to determine whether further implementation of precision cancer screening strategies in the general population would be feasible and beneficial

Predicting fitness to practise events in international medical graduates who registered as UK doctors via the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) system: a national cohort study

Background International medical graduates working in the UK are more likely to be censured in relation to fitness to practise compared to home graduates. Performance on the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) tests and English fluency have previously been shown to predict later educational performance in this group of doctors. It is unknown whether the PLAB system is also a valid predictor of unprofessional behaviour and malpractice. The findings would have implications for regulatory policy. Methods This was an observational study linking data relating to fitness to practise events (referral or censure), PLAB performance, demographic variables and English language competence, as evaluated via the International English Language Test System (IELTS). Data from 27,330 international medical graduates registered with the GMC were analysed, including 210 doctors who had been sanctioned in relation to at least one fitness to practise issue. The main outcome was risk of eventual censure (including a warning). Results The significant univariable educational predictors of eventual censure (versus no censures or referrals) were lower PLAB part 1 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.98 to 1.00) and part 2 scores (HR, 0.94; 0.91 to 0.97) at first sitting, multiple attempts at both parts of the PLAB, lower IELTS reading (HR, 0.79; 0.65 to 0.94) and listening scores (HR, 0.76; 0.62 to 0.93) and higher IELTS speaking scores (HR, 1.28; 1.04 to 1.57). Multiple resits at either part of the PLAB and higher IELTS speaking score (HR, 1.49; 1.20 to 1.84) were also independent predictors of censure. We estimated that the proposed limit of four attempts at both parts of the PLAB would reduce the risk in this entire group by only approximately two censures per 5 years in this group of doctors. Conclusions Making the PLAB, or any replacement assessment, more stringent and raising the required standards of English reading and listening may result in fewer fitness to practice events in international medical graduates. However, the number of PLAB resits permitted would have to be further capped to meaningfully impact the risk of sanctions in this group of doctor

Evidence for an excess of B -> D(*) Tau Nu decays

Based on the full BaBar data sample, we report improved measurements of the ratios R(D(*)) = B(B -> D(*) Tau Nu)/B(B -> D(*) l Nu), where l is either e or mu. These ratios are sensitive to new physics contributions in the form of a charged Higgs boson. We measure R(D) = 0.440 +- 0.058 +- 0.042 and R(D*) = 0.332 +- 0.024 +- 0.018, which exceed the Standard Model expectations by 2.0 sigma and 2.7 sigma, respectively. Taken together, our results disagree with these expectations at the 3.4 sigma level. This excess cannot be explained by a charged Higgs boson in the type II two-Higgs-doublet model. We also report the observation of the decay B -> D Tau Nu, with a significance of 6.8 sigma.Comment: Expanded section on systematics, text corrections, improved the format of Figure 2 and included the effect of the change of the Tau polarization due to the charged Higg

A search for the decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l

We present a search for the lepton flavor violating decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l (h= K,pi; l= e,mu) using the BaBar data sample, which corresponds to 472 million BBbar pairs. The search uses events where one B meson is fully reconstructed in one of several hadronic final states. Using the momenta of the reconstructed B, h, and l candidates, we are able to fully determine the tau four-momentum. The resulting tau candidate mass is our main discriminant against combinatorial background. We see no evidence for B+/- to h+/- tau l decays and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on each branching fraction at the level of a few times 10^-5.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Study of the reaction e^{+}e^{-} -->J/psi\pi^{+}\pi^{-} via initial-state radiation at BaBar

We study the process $e^+e^-\to J/\psi\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ with initial-state-radiation events produced at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy collider. The data were recorded with the BaBar detector at center-of-mass energies 10.58 and 10.54 GeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 454 $\mathrm{fb^{-1}}$. We investigate the $J/\psi \pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ mass distribution in the region from 3.5 to 5.5 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$. Below 3.7 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$ the $\psi(2S)$ signal dominates, and above 4 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$ there is a significant peak due to the Y(4260). A fit to the data in the range 3.74 -- 5.50 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$ yields a mass value $4244 \pm 5$ (stat) $\pm 4$ (syst)$\mathrm{MeV/c^{2}}$ and a width value $114 ^{+16}_{-15}$ (stat)$\pm 7$(syst)$\mathrm{MeV}$ for this state. We do not confirm the report from the Belle collaboration of a broad structure at 4.01 $\mathrm{GeV/c^{2}}$. In addition, we investigate the $\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ system which results from Y(4260) decay

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Antarctic sea ice region as a source of biogenic organic nitrogen in aerosols

Dall'Osto, Manuel ... et al.-- 10 pages, 5 figuresClimate warming affects the development and distribution of sea ice, but at present the evidence of polar ecosystem feedbacks on climate through changes in the atmosphere is sparse. By means of synergistic atmospheric and oceanic measurements in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, we present evidence that the microbiota of sea ice and sea ice-influenced ocean are a previously unknown significant source of atmospheric organic nitrogen, including low molecular weight alkyl-amines. Given the keystone role of nitrogen compounds in aerosol formation, growth and neutralization, our findings call for greater chemical and source diversity in the modelling efforts linking the marine ecosystem to aerosol-mediated climate effects in the Southern OceanThe cruise was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy through projects PEGASO (CTM2012-37615) and Bio-Nuc (CGL2013-49020-R), and by the EU though the FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF programme (Project number 624680, MANU – Marine Aerosol NUcleations). [...] The NUI Galway and ISAC-CNR Bologna groups acknowledge funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) project BACCHUS under grant agreement n° 603445. The work was further supported by the CNR (Italy) under AirSEaLab: Progetto Laboratori Congiunti. The National Centre for Atmospheric Science NCAS Birmingham group is funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council. [...] CC, MFF and RA acknowledge funding from the Marine Institute, University of Plymouth to enable participation in PEGASOPeer Reviewe

Initial experience of a large, self-expanding, and fully recapturable transcatheter aortic valve: The UK & Ireland Implanters' registry.

OBJECTIVES: The UK & Ireland Implanters' registry is a multicenter registry which reports on real-world experience with novel transcatheter heart valves. BACKGROUND: The 34 mm Evolut R transcatheter aortic valve is a self-expanding and fully recapturable transcatheter aortic valve, designed to treat patients with a large aortic annulus. METHODS: Between January 2017 and April 2018, clinical, procedural and 30-day outcome data were prospectively collected from all patients receiving the 34 mm Evolut R valve across 17 participating centers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The primary efficacy outcome was the Valve Academic Research Consortium-2(VARC-2)-defined endpoint of device success. The primary safety outcome was the VARC-2-defined composite endpoint of early safety at 30 days. RESULTS: A total of 217 patients underwent attempted implant. Mean age was 79.5 ± 8.8 years and Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality Score 5.2% ± 3.4%. Iliofemoral access was used in 91.2% of patients. Device success was 79.7%. Mean gradient was 7.0 ± 4.6 mmHg and effective orifice area 2.0 ± 0.6 cm2 . Paravalvular regurgitation was more than mild in 7.2%. A new permanent pacemaker was implanted in 15.7%. Early safety was demonstrated in 91.2%. At 30 days, all-cause mortality was 3.2%, stroke 3.7%, and major vascular complication 2.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Real-world experience of the 34 mm Evolut R transcatheter aortic valve demonstrated acceptable procedural success, safety, valve function, and incidence of new permanent pacemaker implantation

Seedling emergence and establishment of Pinus sylvestris in the Mongolian forest-steppe ecotone

Syftet med studien är att undersöka och beskriva pedagogers uppfattningar av hur de skapar delaktighet och inflytande, i en kommuns förskoleverksamhet och organisation.Mina frågeställningar är hur pedagogerna beskriver sina möjligheter och hinder för att få och skapa delaktighet och inflytande, samt vilka inre och yttre faktorer som finns som påverkar möjligheten för delaktighet och inflytande.För att undersöka detta har jag valt en kvalitativ forskningsansats. Jag har genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju pedagoger. Det empiriska materialet har bearbetats kvalitativt i en empirinära ansats.I resultatet såg jag att ett större fokus på processkvaliteten behöver läggas och medvetenheten behöver ökas, kring den pedagogiska dokumentationens betydelse.Sammanfattningsvis behöver den undersökta kommunens förskolor en gemensam samsyn i hela systemet i ett förståelsebaserat och tolkande perspektiv som gynnar en långsiktig och hållbar utveckling.Participation and influence in the preschool, a study with teachers in one municipality.The purpose of this study is to explore and describe teacher’s perceptions of how they create participation and influence, in a municipality´s preschool and organization.My questions are how teachers describe their opportunities and barriers to get and create participation and influence, and what internal and external factors that affecting the ability of participation and influence.To examine this, I have chosen a qualitative research approach. I have conducted semi structured interviews, with seven teachers. The empirical data have been processed in a qualitative empirical closely approach.In the result, I found that a greater focus on process quality needs to be added and awareness needs to be increased, on the pedagogic documentations significances.In conclusion, needs the municipal preschools, which have been examined, get a common consensus of the entire system in a understanding based and interpretive perspective, that support a long term and sustainable development